my lad seems to have developed a taste for sailing after a school trip to france. (he had a mild interest before, but this seems worth pursuing) he sailed with me in the scorpion last week and had a spell helming in between races. He seems to be picking things up quite well. So we are off to have a go in club toppers this week, assuming the weather is ok.

thinking forwards a boat purchase may be on the horizon, not new but possibly of reasonable condition. I note on the ITCA website there are mention of improvements made in recent times - mast pot changes, foam block filling and sail changes, but it doesnt say when these occurred.

can anyone shed any light?

Replies: Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 14 Aug 17 at 10:01pm

If he's going to go racing or through training he ought to have the new bells and whistles, particularily the centremain. Buy one with all the new bits because they cost a damn fortune. Whilst I am unconvinced the centremain is actually an improvement over sternsheeting, wihout a hadow of doubt that's where all the training will be focussed.

Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 14 Aug 17 at 10:12pm

Agree, buy with all the bits. For a child/younger teen the ergonomics if centre sheeting is probably better, even if personally I think it is slower, especially on smaller water. Great boats to race, fun to sail in a bit of breeze, plenty of competition.
Can't shed any light on the hull changes, but the sail you'd likely change once he gets up to speed, so not too much of an issue. I won a couple of opens early this century, as it was dying as an adult raced boat, in quite an old hull with some decent kit, so don't get too hung up on boat age, more on condition and kit.

i do think the centre sheeting change was perhaps pressed by ' the system' as Oppi and Laser are centre sheeted

while the hulls are not indestructible they don't deteriorate in the way wooden or grp hulls can ( don't rot, don;t think there's an equialent to osmosis etc ...

Posted By: 423zero
Date Posted: 15 Aug 17 at 7:30am

They can distort if badly stored, but you can normally get it back if left in sunshine.
They can also crack, requiring plastic welding, but I have yet to see a decent looking repair.

Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 15 Aug 17 at 8:11am

Suspect the OP is looking for "not new" rather than "indescribably tatty", so hopefully deck splits won't be a factor in the search. Quite a few ex squad boats will come on the market at the end of the season, I'd imagine.

Used to weld Topper's back together, including one that had come off the roof of a car and broken in half. Agree no welds look good, and that one was truly awful. The boat did sail again, though!

End of the season is NOW so far as Toppers are concerned. (Nationals were last week - National Series starts afresh in September). Lots of Toppers available on ApolloDuck - all sorts of ages and conditions. Pick the best boat that fits your budget - there haven't been any significant changes in build for a long time, so unless you buy a really old boat it will be the same construction as a new one.